Better Plants Program Partners Save $5.3 Billion in Energy Costs

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that Better Buildings, Better Plants Program partners have reported a savings of more than $5.3 billion in cumulative energy costs. This represents approximately 12% of the U.S. manufacturing energy footprint. DOE is recognizing 12 new program partners, as well as 10 partners that have achieved their energy or water savings goal this year, bringing the total number of partners who have achieved their goals to 53.

More than 200 partners in the Better Plants program are reducing energy costs that increase productivity, create jobs, and strengthen manufacturing competitiveness. The U.S. manufacturing sector is growing as a result of reducing regulatory burdens, streamlining federal permitting, and reforming tax code. More than 350,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs have been added since January 2017.

As part of the broader Better Buildings Initiative, Better Plants partners voluntarily set a long-term goal to reduce energy intensity by 25% over a 10-year period across all of their U.S. operations. DOE supports these efforts with technical expertise, access to research and development, networking opportunities, and national recognition.

A few highlights from the 2018 Better Plants Annual Update, which outlines the accomplishments of Better Plants partners over 2017 as well as new resources DOE offers, include:

Three Better Plants Challenge partners achieved their goals to reduce energy intensity in their U.S. facilities by 25% within 10 years: General Motors, Legrand North America, and C.F. Martin & Company. Challenge partners commit to energy efficiency goals, as well as sharing their solutions, successes, and best practices.

Two supply chain partners in the Better Plants program, Asama Coldwater Manufacturing and KYB Americas Corporation, hosted in-plant trainings that yielded estimated energy cost savings opportunities of more than $330,000 per year. These partners hosted nine in-plant trainings in 2018, training nearly 150 people and identifying more than $1.1 million per year in energy-cost savings.

Two Better Plants Challenge partners, Bentley Mills and Electrolux, joined the water efficiency initiative in 2018. Bentley Mills pledged to reduce water intensity by 20% by 2027, and Electrolux committed to reduce water intensity by 20% by 2025.

DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office developed a new Manufacturing Energy Assessment Software for Utility Reduction (MEASUR) tool suite that will help partners and other stakeholders analyze industrial systems to help improve energy efficiency and energy cost savings. MEASUR contains reprogrammed and modernized legacy DOE system assessment tools to keep them current within rapidly changing IT infrastructures.

Read the full 2018 Better Plants Annual Update report to learn more about the successes and how the Better Plants program plans to boost competitiveness through improvements in energy efficiency.

Through Better Buildings, DOE aims to make commercial, public, industrial, and residential buildings at least 20% more energy efficient over the next decade. Greater energy efficiency saves billions of dollars, improves resiliency, and creates U.S. jobs. More than 900 Better Buildings partners are sharing their innovative approaches and successful strategies to accelerate the adoption of energy efficient technologies; discover more than 1,500 proven solutions in the Better Buildings Solution Center.